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Advocacy Delivers Another $2 Billion Increase for NIHBy Jennifer Zeitzer, Director of Legislative Relations/Deputy Director, Office of Public Affairs, Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology

​Persistence paid off for the anatomy advocacy community in late September as Congress approved and President Donald J. Trump signed into law legislation (HR 6157) providing another $2 billion increase in funding for the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The bill brings the fiscal year (FY) 2019 NIH budget to $39 billion and marks the first time in more than two decades that the agency received its funding on time. Bipartisan support for NIH was evident in the final vote tallies; the measure passed 361-16 in the House and 93-7 in the Senate.

In addition to approving the NIH budget, legislators also finalized the 2019 spending bills for the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science (DOE SC) and the Veterans Affairs (VA) Medical and Prosthetic Research Program. DOE SC and VA research received increases over their FY 2018 funding levels (see table below).

However, Congress was unable to reach an agreement on the Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies (CJS) appropriations bill which funds the National Science Foundation (NSF). The NSF is operating at its FY 2018 level under a “continuing resolution” that expires on December 7, 2018. It is not clear if Congress will vote on the 2019 NSF budget before the end of 2018.

A Successful 2018The good news for NIH and the other agencies is the direct result of more than nine months of outstanding advocacy by the American Association of Anatomists (AAA) and others in the biomedical research advocacy community. As a member of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB), AAA helped lead the effort to secure the fourth multi-billion dollar increase for NIH since 2016.

In February, AAA was included in a letter sent by FASEB thanking the congressional leadership for their efforts to negotiate a bipartisan agreement to increase the Budget Control Act spending cap for FY 2019. That legislation included a commitment of additional funding for NIH, subject to the approval of the House and Senate Appropriations Committees. AAA members also responded to a FASEB e-Action alert asking scientists to contact Congress and urge support for increased NIH and NSF funding.

AAA was especially well represented at the FASEB Capitol Hill Day on March 8, 2018. Four AAA members from diverse backgrounds and institutions traveled to Washington to advocate for NIH and NSF funding AAA members collectively took part in 129 meetings with members of Congress from 32 states, the largest Capitol Hill Day in FASEB’s history.

Looking Ahead to 2019With more than 100 new members of Congress coming to Capitol Hill in January – including at least eight individuals with advanced degrees in science – AAA’s advocacy efforts will expand in 2019. The advocacy page on the AAA website includes links to a wide variety of resources on how to host a lab visit, talking points for meetings with elected officials, a slide deck on the value of biological research, and factsheets showing federal funding by state and district. AAA members are encouraged to use these tools in their own advocacy efforts in addition to sharing them with others in the anatomy community.